7 Days in Shenyang

Arrive by rail — Beijing runs about two-and-a-half hours on the 2021 line — and settle near Zhongjie, the retail rows that have run since 1625.

1. shenyang zhongjie

114 buildings across about 60,000 sqm, raised between 1625 and 1636 and UNESCO-listed in 2004; winter hours run 09:00-16:30 and Mondays close the complex.

1. Shenyang Imperial Palace (Mukden Palace)

The compound begun in 1914 for Zhang Zuolin (1875-1928) holds the dark-brick Daqing Tower and the courtyards of the younger marshal's years, two blocks west of the palace.

1. shenyang zhang mansion

The museum at Liutiaohu documents the night of 18 September 1931, with the Broken Calendar stele of 1991 at its gate; the provincial museum, opened in July 1949, runs free galleries — both close Mondays.

1. shenyang 918 museum
2. shenyang liaoning museum

Zhaoling, the tomb of Huang Taiji (1592-1643), was built in 1643-1651 and entered the UNESCO imperial-tombs extension in 2004; the pine avenues make an unhurried afternoon.

1. shenyang zhaoling

Fuling, begun in 1629 for Nurhaci (1559-1626), joined the 2004 extension east of town; back in Tiexi, the industrial museum opened in 2012 on a former foundry site and keeps the casting-shop halls and veteran machine tools.

1. shenyang fuling
2. shenyang industrial museum

The rebuilt market quarter around the Huangsi temple — completed in 1636 — runs snack stalls and courtyard lanes; the metro gets you to the stations quickly for the afternoon train.

1. shenyang laobeishi